Vice-President Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, Minister Awut Deng Acuil, and other government officials during the launching of textbooks distribution in Juba. |Photo Credit: Tito Justin|
By Vincent Samuel
Vice-President Hussein Abdelbagi Akol launched the distribution of over 2.5 million Islamic and Arabic textbooks to primary and secondary schools in Juba in a bit to promote Islamic education in the country.
Abdelbagi said the launching of Arabic Language and Islamic Religion Education is an achievement for the people of South Sudan.
He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to providing quality education for all.
“There will be a challenge in teaching this textbook if we don’t have enough teachers, so I encourage the Ministry of General Education and Instruction to focus on ensuring that there are available teachers to teach Arabic Language and Islamic Religion Education,” he said.
The textbooks were handed to school leaders in Juba as part of a massive program aimed at ensuring that the children out-of-school benefit from this round of education in the country.
On her part, the Minister of General Education and Instruction, Awut Deng Acuil, said at the time she assumes office, there was a textbook shortage in the country.
“It was 1 to 19 learners per textbook in core subjects such as English language and mathematics; today, it is three learners per book; this is not good enough; my objective is one school child per textbook,” Awut said.
Save the Children organization in partnership with Norwegian Refugee Council, Finn Church Aid, and the Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI), and funded by the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) initiative, funded the printing of the textbooks.
For the first time since the independence, Arabic language and Islamic Religion Education (IRE) textbooks were printed and distributed to public schools in South Sudan.
Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is an initiative funded by the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.
It supports quality education outcomes for refugee, internally displaced, and other crisis-affected girls and boys, so no one is left behind.
The initiative focuses on the most vulnerable people, including girls, internally displaced children, and children with disabilities.
Its interventions range from covering school fees, reaching students remotely, training education personnel, and implementing child protection pathways in schools.
This recent distribution of 2.5 million textbooks adds to the already distributed 1.12 million textbooks, making a total of more than 3.5 million textbooks distributed since 2021.
Ahmed Omar Ibrahim, Save the Children’s Acting Country Director for South Sudan, said an estimated 2 million internally displaced and returnees’ children, along with nearly 41,000 teachers, require education-related humanitarian aid in South Sudan.
“These needs are diverse and necessitate comprehensive, multi-sectoral interventions, particularly in hard-to-reach areas. Lack of enough teaching materials, such as text books, has contributed to these children, with girls comprising 53 percent, facing significant barriers to accessing education. Notably, children with disabilities, especially those in crisis-affected areas, continue to lack adequate learning support for quality education,” Ibrahim said.
Omer Ibrahim affirmed the commitment of his organization to improving access to safe and conducive learning environments for vulnerable groups, particularly internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees.
“In 2024, approximately 41,000 teachers, primarily in hard-to-reach areas, will require support with teaching materials and incentives to ensure quality education. The textbooks increase learning materials for students, including those in early childhood education,” Ibrahim added.
